'When M&A happens it is important to have good communication happening'
Armed with a PhD in Computer Science and a solid technology background, Dr. Neena Pahuja, CIO, Max Healthcare now plays a key role in business transformation. Dr. Pahuja shares her long journey — assuming roles of Head of Digitization, Global Enabling Leader for security and compliance, and now as CIO — and the valuable lessons
picked up along the way
By Brian Pereira,
InformationWeek,
Can you tell us about your career and your journey to the
CIO role?
I have a pure technology background with a PhD in Computer
Science. I began my career 27 years ago as a programmer at TCS.
When you work on projects, the learning is totally different as
compared to theoretical learning. Later I was involved in ERP
implementations and supply chain — this was a new concept in
India at that time.
Later I joined Genpact and served in the BPO industry for six
years. At Genpact I was Head of Digitization for a few years, and
later became Global Enabling Leader, responsible for security and
compliance. I was totally an applications person before moving to
the security and compliance role. I also learnt a lot about
infrastructure and networks. All this prepared me for the CIO role,
since I knew all the aspects of technology (applications,
infrastructure, security, and compliance).
In the CIO role, there was new learning. It taught me to align
myself with business, and my thought process changed. As security
head at Genpact, I was all for blocking sites like Facebook. But as
a CIO at Max Healthcare that opinion changed and now I allow
employees to use Facebook.